Chuck vs the Misconception
by Owl Emporium
Summary: Bryce comes back, stirring things up between Chuck and Sarah. A misunderstanding, a new mission, and Chuck's insecurities don't help either. Will it all work out? Or will someone's heart end up shattered? ChuckSarah.
1. Heartfelt Truth

He had knocked. Not knowing who it was, she had stupidly opened the door.

Why in the world did she open that door?

"Bryce."

He smiled, that perfect smile that had once made her weak in the knees, her heart flutter, and her brain go haywire.

But not anymore. She had long ago left that train.

"Mind if I come in?" he asked.

She sighed and shook her head, "No, not at all."

She made room for him to enter, and he walked in, looking around the room before plopping himself on her bed. She sat on the chair across, and he looked at her questionably.

"Why so far away? Come sit next to me."

She simply just stared at him, "I'm perfectly fine where I am."

He sighed, "Oh, come on Sarah. If you're afraid I'm going to jump you, don't worry. I'm not."

She stared at him, shocked. How did he know what she was thinking? And how could she be so sure he wasn't going to do that, anyways? It wasn't that she loved Bryce anymore, because she didn't. That, she was sure of. She no longer loved Bryce Larkin. And it had taken one man for her to realize this.

"How can I be sure?" she asked quietly.

"I wouldn't want to hurt Chuck."

She looked at him, trying to find any trace of dishonesty, but found none. What she found was just pure honesty, with sadness mingled in between. He looked so honest, and just...not like the Bryce she had seen often. It was rare, these moments of honesty from him.

"Why would it hurt Chuck?"

He looked at her angrily. "Cut the bullshit Sarah," he said harshly.

She blinked, taken aback by his sudden change of attitude.

He sighed, "Look, I just want him to be happy. _Both_ of you to be happy."

"What? What are you-"

"Don't try to fool me. I'm not stupid. I know why you didn't come with me-"

"It was my duty to stay wi-"

"Sarah, just don't use the duty excuse," he said sharply. "I know exactly why you stayed."

Damn. Why the hell did he have to know her so well? But even though he knew her very well, he couldn't compare to Chuck. No, Chuck knew things _she _didn't even know about herself. Things she had forgotten.

She sighed and looked at him sadly, "Bryce, I'm sorry but-"

He smiled brightly, "Don't be."

She looked at him strangely, "Okay, are you bipolar or something?"

He laughed, "Same old Sarah. Nah, it's just...you were, _are_, still important to me. Don't worry," he said after seeing the look on her face, "If you feel bad because you think I love you, don't be, 'cause I don't."

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She was relieved...she just knew Bryce wasn't lying. He was always direct, never lying (not including any agency matters), and never avoiding the point.

"Look," he started, "I just want you and Chuck to be happy. I love that nerd like a brother, Sarah. He's probably the only true friend I've ever had. Just, answer me this question, honestly and directly. Do you love Chuck? Just tell me what I already know."

"If you already know, why bother asking?"

"Because Sarah, you need to say it." He cocked his head, "Have you ever admitted it out loud Sarah? Ever admitted it to anyone? I'm pretty sure Carina is out of the picture. She _did_ try to seduce him."

Her head snapped to him, "What?! When? I'm gonna-"

"Relax. He actually resisted her, er, skills. Gotta hand it to him, that's pretty tough."

Her shoulders deflated, but the anger hadn't. Not at all.

"Stop thinking of possible scenarios where she can 'accidentally' die."

She pouted, "You're no fun."

"I try."

They stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, Sarah staring at the wall trying to work up some courage, while Bryce simply waited for her to say something.

"I love Chuck Bartowski," she said suddenly, her voice cracking.

He smiled, proud of her for admitting it. He knew it was hard, but rather than saying anything, he simply nodded and implied for her to continue.

"I just- he's the first man to ever get under my skin as much as he has. He's sweet, honest, kind, and just so unbelievably close to perfect. He knows me so well...he knows my better than _anyone_. Better than I know myself. He's showed me how to feel...feelings that I thought I had forgotten. A yearn for a family, a stable life, all with _him_.

"He's just so special, and he makes me feel safe. He makes me feel protected, and he's risked his life for me so many times. Did you hear about the crazy banner stunt he pulled? Agents only think about doing that, but never actually do it! But he did it. And he did it for me.

"And when he was thrown off that building...I felt my heart ripped out of me, Bryce. I just...I screamed, and just didn't know what to do. I felt helpless. At that moment, I felt my whole entire world collapse, and I... and then after, when he showed up with the reinforcements...I felt alive again, you know? I felt like a could breath again, and it was...bliss."

There. She had finally said it. Everything that had been inside of her all these months; she had let it all out. And to Bryce Larking no less.

She noticed that during her confession, she had started crying. She wiped her tears, and looked up at Bryce. He was smiling, and he just looked so happy.

After this, not much was said. They watched a movie together just as old friends would. She _was _curious to why he was here- he didn't get pulled out of his cover just for this- but she decided to ask about that later. For now, she was glad to have someone to who she could relate to.

After all, they both loved Chuck, even though they had an unorthodox way of showing it.

* * *

Author's Note: Ugh, who was super pissed at the way they introduced Bryce into the second season? Poor Chuck! Anyways, I still _kinda_ like Bryce (yeah, yeah, scream at me later) and well, I made him into a good guy in this one. He _is_ gonna be some-what of an arrogant bastard, but he loves Chuck (even though he was a weird way of showing it).

Doesn't mean I don't hate his timing. He just has the world's worst timing!

Anyways, I hope you liked this first chapter. (: The whole confession wasn't good, and I apologize. You can't write what you don't know. The next chapter will be when Chuck arrives. Dun dun dun. :O

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.


	2. Tomorrows

Crap. What was he doing here? _Now_ of all times?

Before she could stop him, she felt Bryce moving to open the door fully behind her.

"Hello, Chuck. Miss me?"

She saw the way Chuck's smile faded, the way his eyes seemed to darken and loose the exited spark. The way his shoulders fell, the way he seemed to deflate.

There was an awkward silence. Chuck's shoulders tensed, and he smiled. It was fake though. Forced.

"I, uh, didn't realize that you were...here. With Sarah."

Bryce kept his cool, but he felt a pang of guilt. Chuck was thinking something entirely not true.

"Yes well, I can't exactly call every time show up. My cover doesn't allow it."

Chuck's eyes glanced at Sarah quickly.

"Right. Your cover. Well, talking about covers, I came here to enforce me and Sarah's cover, but seeing as she's...preoccupied, I'll just head on home."

Sarah sighed. This was _not_ how she was planning on this night to go.

"Chuck I-"

"Hey, no prob. I'll just leave you to it. Whatever it is."

Then, as quickly as he came, he walked away. Leaving no time for explanations. No questions were answered. No questions were asked.

"Crap."

Bryce frowned, "Crap is right."

Sarah sighed and hit her forehead with the door frame.

"When is this life ever gonna get easy?"

"Never, unfortunately."

She glared at Bryce, "Not helping."

He just shrugged and went to turn on the TV. She sighed exasperatedly.

"Men..." she muttered under her breath.

Bryce glanced at her, "What was that?"

"Nothing..."

He sighed, "Look Sarah. Tonight was...unfortunate. But, there's always tomorrow."

She sighed and looked out the window, "Right, tomorrow..."

There was still hope. But, would it be too late?

* * *

_Well, so much for tomorrow_, Sarah thought.

Turns out tomorrow had been the worst than the day before. And the days after tomorrow? Even worst.

It had been almost a week since the mission with Bryce. One day since she had run out of the hospital to save Chuck.

A couple hours since Chuck told her they couldn't be together.

It had hurt her, so much than she could explain. She had just been about to tell him that she was willing to forget the line, for him, and that she would be with him rules be damned. She came full of hope, only to leave with a crushed heart.

And then he had said it:

"I'm a normal guy who wants a normal life."

She didn't completely pay attention. It was all a blur, her anger and pain making it hard to see. She only caught a couple of phrases. But there was one that she would never forget.

"Sarah, lets face it: You're never going to be normal."

He wanted a normal life. He wanted a life without the lies, without the running-for-your-life situations. He craved for the one thing he had in abundance before all this happened: Normality.

Normality. Something she could never offer. Because her life was nothing but unpredictable. For example, she had no idea where she would get sent off to after this. Would be sent to Prague? England? Bogota? Russia? Brazil?

She could only look at him and nod. Her heart was broken. And she had no idea what to do about it.

She was angry, not at Chuck, but at herself. She had the chance so many damn times, and she had taken them for granted. She always thought he would be there, waiting for her to finally realize that there was no escaping them.

But she had been too slow, and had let him think. And that had cost her dearly.

She remembered that moment a couple nights ago, right before heading off to the mission...

_She couldn't wait until Chuck saw her. _

_She could already imagine his face: He would smile and tell her how wonderful she looked. __He__ would get this amazed look on his face like he couldn't believe that she could get any more beautiful._

_She came out, and__ got the reaction she was hoping for from Chuck. He smiled, amazed. She could see him about to say what he would always say, what he had never failed to do._

_But then__, __it was gone._

_Glancing at Bryce, Chuck said nonchalantly, "Well, __red's not my color."_

_He walked away, and she could feel the tears coming. But she would've let them. __She looked over at Bryce who shrugged apologetically._

_What had happened?_

As they were eating the delicious meal that Ellie had cooked, she felt her eyes water. She realized something: She wanted normality too. She craved for Chuck to always be there, every time she came out of that bathroom, ready to go out on a date. With him. She wanted to see him smile at her, tell her she was beautiful.

She wanted him to be in her life forever. Or, the adult version of forever as Chuck would say.

That was what Chuck wanted too; he had told her multiple times. And this was what she wanted too. She wanted what he wanted. She was sick of this life. The lies, the death that surrounded her all the time.

She was tired of being alone.

_"You're slipping Sarah."_

_She glared at Bryce, "So?"_

_"Sarah, you hesitated. It could've cost the chip and Chuck's life! You hesitated, and if it weren't for Casey, Chuck would've been dead by now."_

_She slammed the keys onto the table in frustration__, "I know dammit! Don't you think I know that? I know I'm slipping!"_

_"You can't let yourself fall Sarah."_

_"Yeah, well it's already happened. It's too late now."_

_Bryce blinked, surprised, and cocked his head to the side, "You don't care anymore, do you?"_

_She sighed, "No."_

_He shook his head, "Chuck always had the talent of crawling under your skin. No matter how hard you tried."_

_"Unfortunately, I think I've gone to far."_

_He sighed, "Unfortunately, I think so too."_

"Sarah? Sweetie, are you alright?"

At Ellie's voice, she jumped back to the present.

"I, uh, yeah. Just remembering something, but it's all good."

Satisfied with this answer, everyone went back to their previous actions. Well, Chuck didn't. He was staring at her, hard, and it gave her the sensation of being X-rayed. Kind of like Harry had felt when Dumbledore had looked at him.

Dumbledore? Oh god, he _had_ turned her into a nerd.

* * *

Author's Note: Er, well, this was not a good chapter. And I'm sorry, but right now, I don't have much time. Anyways, Bryce did it again. He updated Chuck. I find that really good actually. They can't kill Chuck now huh? Hah, take that Beckman! :D

Okay, but seriously, who's disappointed with Chuck? Poor Sarah! But then again, Bryce sort of told him to do the right thing... Okay, I'm pissed off at both of them. Screw both of ya. D:

Anyways, review, if only to agree/disagree with my crazy ramblings. Or to actually tell me what'd you think of the chapter. (:

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck my friends. Sorry.


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